My Books
UPCOMING
Changing Woman Speaks: From Lost to Found in the Navajo Beauty Way
a memoir by Brenda Kay Beck
Synopsis: Returning from a New York business trip, a fateful layover to northern Arizona sweeps the author into the mysterious world of Navajo culture. Her teacher is a respected Navajo medicine man who takes an interest in her skills. Soon she’s leading a double life,— entertaining clients in box seats at the opera one night, and sitting on the ground in all-night tepee ceremonies the next.
When her company wants to promote her to the East Coast, she marries the medicine man and follows her spiritual path. For years they serve the Native American community in California and Arizona conducting ceremonies and prayers whenever asked. But when a high-stakes ceremony goes terribly wrong, she loses everything,– husband, home, security, and trust in all that she’s believed in.
Now a single mother in a very dark situation, it is the Navajo teachings of Changing Woman that guide her back to the light. When a Navajo relative invites her back to ceremony, she returns with hard-earned skills of discernment and wisdom. The only path forward becomes what diné elders have been teaching all along,— The Navajo Beauty Way is about maintaining hózhó, (balance) in this Changing World.
Condensing over thirty years of Navajo ceremonies, this memoir invites readers to experience the Navajo teachings as she did and learn how the indigenous wisdom has shaped and enriched her life. It has been written with much love and respect for her Navajo relatives and the elders who carried the sacred stories into these times.
Hózhó nahasdlii. May it be in Beauty.
EARLY REVIEWS
A compelling read.
“The editorial team appreciated your clear relationship with the sacred teachings you are sharing, and your care in framing of those traditions from your perspective as a non-indigenous person. A compelling read.”
The world so needs stories like this.
“The world so needs stories like this. There are so many women who know there is more to this world than they are experiencing but feel disheartened and don’t know what that “something more” might be. Your writing will speak to them.“
Kinaaldá: A Navajo Girl's Journey Into Womanhood
by Brenda Kay Beck
Synopsis: On June 27, 2008 in Kayenta, Arizona, a Navajo girl and her family begin preparations for her kinaaldá, the four-day Navajo coming-of-age ceremony which marks her arrival into womanhood. Carefully following the teachings and prayers passed down orally through generations, the medicine man leads her in a recreation of the first kinaaldá created by the Holy People, First Man and First Woman, for the Navajo diety, Changing Woman. By walking in Changing Woman's footsteps throughout the ceremony this young lady's life is changed forever and the sacredness of womanhood is awakened within her.
Self-published in 2012 as a gift to our Navajo family who made my daughter's kinaaldá possible. Reprinted with addendums in 2014, 2018, and 2021 for private distribution. Currently out of print.
Contributing Writer
The Words You Were Looking For:
An Anthology of Winners and Finalists from the 2025 San Francisco Writers Conference Writing Contest
Published February, 2026.
Available on Amazon.com.
Excerpt: Changing Woman Speaks: From Lost to Found in the Navajo Beauty Way
Finalist, Adult Nonfiction
2025 San Francisco Writers Conference Writing Contest
Contributing Writer
Mosaic Voices:
An Anthology of Winning Stories and Poetry from the 2024 SouthWest Writers Writing Contest.
Published October 24, 2024
Mosaic Voices©SouthWest Writers.
Available on Amazon.com
Excerpt: Changing Woman Speaks
2nd Place, Unpublished Memoir
2024 SouthWest Writers Writing Contest